


October 2020 Prompt Fics; Tangled

by notcool



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Cutesy, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hurt/Comfort, October Prompt Challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26827408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notcool/pseuds/notcool
Summary: Going through an October prompts list with Tangled the Series characters. Varian is my son so expect him in the majority of them in some way at least.Any necessary warnings will be at the beginning notes of the chapters.(Yes i am aware it is no longer October but well fuck it I’m writing)
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Varian, Lance Strongbow & Varian, Rapunzel & Varian (Disney), Ruddiger & Maximus (Disney), Varian & Ruddiger
Comments: 1
Kudos: 67





	1. Prompt 1: Poisoned

**Author's Note:**

> I'm running late but I plan to eventually fill all prompts from the #31horrificdays October prompt list on tumblr. Not sure how many of these will actually end up halloween-related in any way, but it's fun so here I am. Enjoy!
> 
> Prompt list:  
> https://horrificmemes.tumblr.com/post/165553173026/31-horrific-days-v2-october-writing-challenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: h/c, poison  
> (i mean it's all def pg but still take care of yourselves kiddos)

Ruddiger had been nestled in the rafters when it happened, which all in all was for the best by the end of it.

Varian was chattering along to himself as he pushed tools and beakers around on his workbench below, ‘chemical formula’ this and ‘binding agent’ that, the usual sciencey gibberish that Ruddiger found meaningless, but still made for nice background sound as the raccoon nuzzled into his own fluffy tail for a nap.

Ruddier was almost asleep when he was startled to his feet by a shriek.

He scrambled to peer down just in time to see Varian completely fail at catching the glowing beaker that was headed towards the ground, and when it hit the whole lower half of the room exploded in a bright blue cloud.

Ruddiger gripped the rafter with his claws, blinking hopefully down into the cloud, waiting for the awkward laugh that would serve as Varian’s unspoken ‘ _ I totally meant to do that _ ’, but after the few initial startled coughs there was nothing.

Ruddiger wrapped his tail around himself, peeking out over the top to continue watching for his human friend.

Nothing.

The cloud was starting to settle, and Ruddiger made a few inquisitive squeaks that were left unanswered.

The cloud was nearly gone now, and soon enough he could see- with a cry Ruddiger scampered down the supports to the ground, running to where his human was lying on the floor on his side, head lolling backwards and eyes fluttering between halfway open and closed.

Ruddiger tapped the human’s cheek with a tentative paw, then tapped again when he received no response. Again. Again.

A high-pitched squeal in Varian’s ear elicited a whiny moan, a gloved hand waving uncoordinatedly to shoo the raccoon away, but apparently that was the best Ruddiger was going to get.

Well, this would simply not do.

Ruddiger left the workshop, trotting through the castle, eyes searching until he found someone he knew - or, someone _ s _ .

Eugene and Lance were sitting on the floor of a side hall playing some sort of card game.

Ruddiger went right between them, sitting on the scattered cards to assure he had their attention.

“Uh… hi Ruddiger?” Eugene picked a card from the ones in his hand and leaned to awkwardly poke it under Ruddiger’s tail into the discard pile. “Can I… help you?”

Ruddiger nodded a little frantically, lifting a paw to point back towards the workshop.

“Hey, little guy.” Lance set his own cards down, tilting his head. “Where’s Varian? You’re usually always with him.”

Ruddiger huffed, pointing harder and scrunching his face to assure them he wasn’t here just for fun.

“Is something wrong?” Eugene asked.

Ruddiger nodded, now more jabbing his paw out then pointing, but it got the message across.

“Alrighty then,” Lance stretched and lazily got to his feet. “Why don’t you show us, huh?”

Well, he was being slow about it, but at least he was coming.

Ruddiger turned his narrowed eyes on Eugene, who only took a few moments to hop to his feet.

“Okay, okay! I’m coming too!”

Ruddiger hopped off the cards and headed back to the workshop, glancing behind every few steps to make sure they were still following.

When they finally arrived Varian had rolled onto his back and propped himself up on his elbows, eyes large and blinking slowly as though the world weren’t quite in focus.

With a squeak Ruddiger ran to him, pawing at the boy’s shoulder in question.

Varian took far longer than he should have to look to his friend, and when he did he smiled lopsidedly. “Ruddy! The...there you are… I was… uh… what was I… I…”

“Varian?” Eugene had dropped to a crouch on the boy’s other side, Lance standing behind him. “Are you okay kid? You look a little… out of it.”

Varian’s eyes were wandering again, turning curious when they found the shards of beaker scattered to his side. “Oh yeah… I dropped the marvilarium! That’s- that’s not good. It makes things- things-” he giggled a bit deliriously, turning his lopsided grin to Eugene. “Hey! Eu-Eugene! When did you get here?”

Lance had collected a broom from the corner and was cautiously sweeping the shards of glass into a little pile well away from the rest of them. “What does the marvulle-mover-merive- uh, compound do? Are you gonna be okay?”

“Ah, I’ll be fine!” Varian said, the way his head was nodding forward without direction hardly helping anyone believe that. “It’s just- just a little poison!”

“Poison!” Eugene cried, grabbing the boy’s shoulders. “Do you have the antidote? What does it do? Do we need to call someone? Who would we even call? You’re the royal alchemist! Lance what do we-”

“It’s  _ fine _ .” With Eugene holding him up Varian lifted a hand to pat at the man’s chest with a half-limp hand. “It’s just… just marvilar...arium. Not bad or nothin’... just not… so good either…”

“So you’re not gonna die?” Eugene prodded.

Varian nodded, although it was more of just a dizzying jerk of his head. “Nope! Dying’s not fun… don’t do that… that’s bad. Nah, marvilarium don’t make you… die. Just gotta… sleep it off.”

Ruddiger blinked between the three humans, trying to figure out what the conclusion would be.

Eugene and Lance just stared at each other for a minute, having some kind of silent conversation.

Finally Lance set the broom aside and bent to lift Varian into his arms. “Well, I guess we should get you to bed then. Sleeping on the floor isn’t fun, lemme tell ya.”

Varian hummed and nuzzled into Lance’s collar. “You’re warm.”

Both men snorted and started out of the workshop.

Ruddiger kept pace with them, claws clicking hurriedly across the tiles, determined not to be left behind. His human might need him!

Varian’s room wasn’t far, and soon enough Lance had tucked the young alchemist under his covers and tugged off his goggles, gloves and boots, setting them in their respectable places.

Lance and Eugene had another one of their silent conversations, coming to some sort of agreement with a shared nod.

“We’re gonna move our card game to the hall just outside.” Eugene said, looking to Ruddiger. “That way if anything happens we’ll be right here, but we still won’t bother him while he’s sleeping. That sound good buddy?”

Ruddiger nodded, hopping from where he stood on the side table onto the bed.

With soft goodbyes the men left the room, closing the door behind them and leaving Ruddiger and his human in comfortable darkness.

Ruddiger paced around the covers, searching for the perfect spot to curl up. He had just about decided on a place when Varian’s arm wrapped around him and pulled him up against the boy.

Varian hummed contentedly, smiling into Ruddiger’s fur as he clutched him close with both arms, erasing all possibility of escape.

Ruddiger bristled, scowling. He was not a teddy bear!

But Varian hummed again, mumbling something incoherent into the soft fur, and Ruddiger relented to the cuddles with an annoyed sigh. His human needed him, after all.


	2. Prompt 2: Cage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: N/A
> 
> Just a snippet from Cassandra's Revenge

_ Nothing left to lose. _

She’d said she had nothing left to lose, but Varian didn’t believe it. He was still here, after all. Rapunzel and Eugene were still there. Her father was still there.

Sure, she’d shoved him into a magic rock cage hanging precariously off the edge of an evil moon tower, but he was still here.

Sure, Rapunzel and Eugene and her father were out who knows where, but they were still coming.

Had he forgotten something? Some word, some phrase he could have said that would make her understand before she learned the hard way like he had? Surely there was a way to say it. Surely such a lesson didn’t have to be learned anew for every person on earth, right?

_ Nothing left to lose _ .

Varian snorted bitterly, plopping to sit cross-legged on the floor of his little prison.

_ What are you thinking, Cassandra? You have so much to lose. That’s what I’m trying to show you. _

She couldn’t see it. Didn’t want to. Really, it wasn’t a surprise - he hadn't wanted to see it either. Rapunzel would know what to say, wouldn’t she?

Yes, Rapunzel would arrive and with that magical heart of hers she would just let the words spill from her soul and they would surely be perfect, be everything Cassandra needed to hear to understand what Varian couldn’t make her.

Rapunzel could fix this. He knew she could.

But… she couldn’t if she didn’t know everything. If she didn’t have every possible resource at her disposal. And Varian… Varian was one of those resources.

What could he do to help?

Varian took a mental inventory of what he had on him still, feeling a small grin tug at his lips as a plan slowly formed. First, though, he was going to need a mirror...


	3. Prompt 3: Insects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pascal wants a snack and Varian is Varian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: N/A

Maximus and Ruddiger were playfully(?) stealing a bright apple back and forth from each other, the game going in circles in the field while Rapunzel and Eugene sat on a blanket in the grass, watching Varian run around his latest contraption, excitedly explaining how it worked.

Pascal was perched on Rapunzel’s shoulder, lazily watching the fight over the apple. He had started out trying to pay attention to Varian, but the boy genius had lost him by the third sentence, and so his focus had wandered.

Rapunzel and Eugene were watching Varian intently, Rapunzel in particular nodding enthusiastically, though Pascal knew they were probably just as clueless as he was.

Varian’s breathless chatter paused a moment for the boy to hop up on top of the machine, where he started pushing buttons that made different things light up.

It’s not that Pascal didn’t trust Varian or anything, it was just that… well, the boy had something of a track record of inventions catching on fire and/or exploding. It was unlikely anyone would get hurt, but Pascal wasn’t in the mood to spend the rest of the day tasting soot, so he hopped off Rapunzel’s shoulder and scampered into the grass to put distance between himself and the contraption.

Pushing his way through the grasses was fun. Pascal could almost imagine he was on some grand adventure off in the great unknown.

He wandered around the field, making sure to stay out of Ruddiger and Maximus’ way, because really, they were being just a  _ bit _ childish, he though, pausing every once in awhile to inspect a peculiar weed or bug.

Speaking of bugs… Pascal decided he felt like a snack.

The chameleon continued through the field, purposefully tromping on the grasses to scare loose any nice, yummy bugs that might be hiding underneath. He caught a few gnats and a spider when he saw it - the perfect snack.

A nice, juicy fly, buzzing around just a little higher than Pascal could reach.

Pascal crouched low to the ground, stalking the fly as it buzzed around, ready to pounce the second it came into reach.

Almost… almost… it was so close… 

_ BOOM! _

Pascal leaped into the air, not to catch his snack but in surprise, wide eyes swivelling back to his friends, little heart pounding as he blinked into the cloud of black smoke that had exploded around where the humans had been sitting.

Everything was quiet for a full second - even Maximus and Ruddiger were frozen - and then Rapunzel started laughing.

The smoke was dispersing in the wind, and Pascal let out his breath as his princess came into view, soot-covered but unharmed, and soon enough Varian’s awkward laugh joined her surprised yet delighted one.

“Varian! I just washed my clothes this morning!” Eugene was on his feet and waving his arms in distress, somehow having more soot on him than even the boy genius did.

That only made Rapunzel and Varian laugh harder.

“I-uh,” Varian chuckled, still a bit awkwardly but his smile was genuine as he got to his feet. “I guess it still needs some work.”

“ _ Some  _ work!” Eugene cried. “Look what you’ve done to my beautiful hair!”

Crisis averted, Ruddiger held up the apple, raising an eyebrow at Maximus and waving the fruit questioningly.

Maximus’ expression turned determined once more, the challenge back on. With a squeak Ruddiger took off at his top speed, and the war for the apple began once more.

Pascal rolled his eyes and sighed, scowling when he looked up to find that wonderfully juicy fly was gone.

He turned back to the humans, where Varian was picking up the pieces of his contraption and piling them into his arms. The boy genius was facing away from him, but Pascal stuck out his tongue anyway.

Perfectly, marvellously delicious snack snatched away. The audacity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! Running behind schedule with these I know but I promise all prompts will be completed eventually.
> 
> For the person who asked if I take requests - I do! This particular fic is for the October prompt list but I'm happy to write something else to be published as its own story. I mostly take requests through my tumblr @not2cools (https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/not2cools) but if you don't have a tumblr feel free to make a request in the comments!


	4. Prompt 4: Buried

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varain + classic Varian Shenanigans + Eugene is Tired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: mild h/c  
> (not much here tbh just fluffy comedy)

The difference between ‘intelligent’ and ‘smart’ had never really made sense to Eugene until he’d met Varian.

Because the kid was all kinds of intelligent, but… smart? Let’s just say that the boy genius could easily tell if something was a bad idea, but that knowledge rarely seemed to have bearing on whether or not he then executed said bad idea.

“So let me get this straight,” Eugene rubbed the bridge of his nose, as if squeezing his eyes shut for those moments could make him forget the ridiculousness of this whole thing. “You wrote a formula for a chemical compound that could potentially put the entire kingdom into a magical sleep, and you decided to put this formula in a jar and  _ bury it in the apple orchard _ ?”

“Not magical sleep!” Varian walked a bit ahead, dutifully poking patches of suspicious earth with a long metal rod. “Alchemically induced! And to even work on such a scale one would have to alter the substance to make it airborne, and then somehow generate enough of it to-” he caught Eugene’s unimpressed look and coughed awkwardly. “-I uh, I mean, yeah, more or less.”

Ruddiger ran ahead of them both, chittering excitedly. Eugene honestly had no idea if the raccoon was helping or if he was just having fun exploring the forest. Every once in awhile he found a rock he liked and would scamper back for just long enough to poke the rock into one of the many pockets on Varian’s apron (seriously though, how was the kid even walking with all those rocks?).

Varian was a ways ahead of him now, and Eugene only plodded along, just making sure to not lose sight of the boy.

“Go help Varian, Eugene!” He muttered, kicking a pinecone to the side in annoyance. “It’ll be fun, Eugene! He probably won’t do anything too crazy!”

Of course, as if this whole thing wasn’t annoying enough already, something just  _ had _ to happen, didn’t it?

Eugene had looked away from Varian for a moment - just a moment! - and in that split second there was a sharp  _ CRACK! _ Followed immediately by a high-pitched yelp.

Eugene snapped his head back around - the boy genius and his raccoon were nowhere to be seen.

“Seriously?!” Eugene threw up his arms, but only stood there resenting existence a moment, as Varian had, after all, vanished.

He jogged up to where he’d last seen the boy, and found himself at the top of a small but somewhat steep slope.

Varian was sprawled at the bottom, starting to sit up and shaking his head dizzily, Ruddiger running in concerned circles around him.

“Varian!” Eugene walked down the slope (more carefully than Varian obviously had) and came to a stop beside the alchemist. “Are you okay?”

Varian gave his head one last shake before grinning up at him. “Yep! I’m good!” His eyes flitted past Eugene to one of the apple trees behind him. “Hey! I think that’s the tree I buried the formula next to!” He jumped to his feet, and as soon as his boots hit the earth he made another high-pitched yelp and stumbled forward.

Eugene managed to catch him and set him back down. “Geez, kid.”

Varian looked just as startled by his fall, tilting his head and blinking down at his shoes.

Eugene plopped down in front of him. “Can you tell what’s wrong?”

“I… uh…” Varian wiggled his legs testingly, and grimaced almost immediately. “I think I twisted my right ankle. I… I have no idea how I didn’t feel that wallago, ha.”

Eugene shook his head with a slight roll of his eyes and began untying the laces on the alchemist’s right shoe.

Thankfully the ankle was in fact only twisted, not actually broken. It was good that Varian would heal faster and easier, of course, but in the end Eugene was still going to end up giving the kid a piggy-back ride all the way back through the orchard to the castle.

He splinted the ankle with a stick and some cord from Varian’s pack and was actually rather proud of how nicely it turned out, given that he in no way shape or form knew what he was doing.

“Alrighty then,” He tied off the last cord and stood. “Let’s get you back to the castle.”

“Not yet!” Varian was pointing back at the tree, fingers wriggling as though trying to assist him in displaying its importance. Even Ruddiger pointed, chittering helpfully. “I really think that’s the tree - just lemme get the formula and then we can go!”

“Varian, you really thought it was every third tree we passed all the way here.”

Varian pouted. “But- what if I really,  _ really _ think that’s the tree?”

Eugene wanted to say no. He truly did. But as annoying as the alchemist could be, he was still adorable, and those large, hopeful, excited eyes blinking up at him were impossible to refuse.

Eugene sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Fine - but just the one tree, alright?”

“Aye aye!” Varian smiled broadly, reaching a hand for Eugene to pull him up. “The formula’s there, I just know it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: look at this nice material for a good spooky scary angsty story!  
> me: hmmmm no i'm thinking fluff


	5. Prompt 5: Trees

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this on my phone so apologies for anything weird my phone loves to autocorrect perfectly normal words

Cassandra had more or less no idea where she was, but she knew wherever it was was exactly where she needed to be. 

Sitting on the forest floor, leaned comfortably back against Fidella’s side, the fire crackling soothingly amid the chorus of crickets. 

The kingdom of Corona was long past far away, and yet her adventure had only just begun. 

So much to see! To do! To explore!

Cassandra sighed happily and snuggled back into Fidella’s soft coat. Fidella gave a soft snort in response, shifting to curl around her human companion. 

Of course Cassandra could hardly deny she missed her friends. She missed Rapunzel and her radiant aura, Varian and his unsatisfiable curiosity, even Eugene and Lance and their ridiculous antics. 

Her chest grew a little heavy, and Cassandra shook away the feeling - no. She wasn’t going to feel sad. 

She was going to go out into the world and find her calling, go on some adventures of her own and maybe make some new friends - but in the end, Corona and everything it held was still waiting for her with open arms, ready to hear all her stories when she passed back through on her way to a new adventure. 

So no, she didn’t need to be sad, because she hadn’t lost her friends. They were happy and safe and having wondrous experiences of their own, right where she’d left them. 

So for right now, Cassandra not only wasn’t sad, no - she was happy. Ecstatic! Ready to wander the world in search of where she belonged, and nothing was holding her back. 

Cassandra pulled her knees to her chest, tipping to the side and falling so she faced Fidella. 

The steed’s large eyes offered her a kind smile, and that was all Cassandra needed to sigh contentedly and close her eyes, falling asleep by her little fire in the middle of nowhere, leaving the trees to stand watch.


	6. Prompt 6: Photographs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these prompts were supposed to be scary and i keep writing comedy so idek man

“Okay, that’s - oh no no just- just a bit to the left… there! Perfect!”

Eugene narrowed his eyes at the young alchemist’s latest invention, which sported a metal cone on the front pointing right where Eugene was standing, and it looked a little too much like a cannon for his liking. 

“What exactly does this thing do again?”

“You’ll see in just a minute!” Varian practically skipped around the machine, disappearing behind the spindles and gears and haphazardly draped curtains. 

Eugene made a face at the menacing cone, finding Varian’s eye peeking through it at him from the other side. “I don’t know about this Varian… this looks kind of… dangerous.”

“Nonsense!” Varian’s eye vanished from sight, and Eugene could hear clattering as the alchemist dug through his tool bag. “It’s perfectly safe! It’s not like it’s going to explode or anything! I mean, it could explode - but there’s a seventy-three percent chance that it won’t!”

“I’m not sure I like those o-“

“And besides!” More clattering. More things were knocked into the floor as Varian scrambled to capture an escaped bolt. “It’s very unlikely that the explosion would kill us anyway, so there’s nothing to worry about!”

Eugene shuffled back towards the door. “Kid, I think maybe-”

“Ah-ah!” The alchemist’s head poked out over the top of the contraption, goggles lopsided on his head and an oversized glove waving for Eugene to return to his place. “You gotta stand still for it to work! Come on, it’ll be fun!”

Eugene knee all too well what Varian defines as ‘fun’ - but how was he supposed to resist that face? 

Grumbling, Eugene returned as Varian directed, giving the mysterious machine a weary look. 

“And… you’re not gonna tell me what’s happening?”

“So impatient!” Varian was putting far too much concentration into slotting a shiny piece of paper into the contraption, just under the cannon-looking part. “Okay, it should be ready?”

“Should be?” Eugene asked, kind of wanting to take back his decision to stay. 

Varian’s eye reappeared through the hole, glittery with excitement. “Smile!”

“Wha-”

Eugene leapt a solid foot in the air, suddenly blinded by a massive flash. He stumbled once he landed, rubbing his eyes.

“Awesome!” Varian didn’t seem affected by the flash in the slightest. 

Eugene squinted across at the boy, who was tugging that shiny piece of paper back out. 

“Ah ha! It’s perfect!” The alchemist danced in a little circle, hurriedly straightening when he remembered Eugene was there. “Haha, that wasn’t- that- uh, come see!” 

Eugene blinked a few more times, letting the stars fade from his eyes before rounding the room to see what was on the page.

It was like a drawing, but not quite. Eugene could see himself, standing on the other side of the room, eyes half-squeezed shut and mouth open mid-shout.

“Hey!” He complained, making a face at the image.

“I know, it’s awesome, right!” Varian was still bouncing a little despite trying his best to stay still. “I’m going to call it a photograph! Like photons! Because they make the picture!”

Eugene blinked. “Foe-what now?”

Varian grinned insanely wide, shoving his goggles up and holding the page close to his face to inspect it. “Geez, it really worked! And on the first test too! Oh boy, I gotta go show Lance - he’s not gonna believe this!”

Eugene managed to unfreeze before the alchemist could make it entirely out the door, if only because such a ridiculous image of himself in Lance’s hands would spell nothing but disaster. “Wait! No! Don’t show that to Lance!”

Varian walked faster, holding the page ahead of him to keep it as far from his pursuer as possible. 

“Hey!” Eugene scrambled to catch up with the boy’s increasing speed. “No! Wait! Don’t! I look terrible!”

Varian threw a grin over his shoulder.

Eugene had just enough time to think,  _ oh, that’s not a good face, _ before the young alchemist had leapt into a run, speeding away down the hall, cackling maniacally the whole way.

His fate was most likely sealed, but Eugene gave fruitless chase anyway.


End file.
